An autopilot system may cause an aircraft to autonomously perform various flight maneuvers or course alterations based on rules defining actions to be taken under various circumstances. Some autopilot systems may be programmed to follow predefined routes defined by waypoints and some autopilot systems are configured to identify and avoid obstacles. With the numerous different ways in which any particular obstacle may be responded to and the ever changing aerial environment in which unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are to operate, it has become impracticable for autopilot systems to be manually programmed to consider all those factors that pilots consider (consciously or subconsciously) in deciding upon an optimal response to an obstacle. In particular, although traditional autopilot systems may perform rudimentary obstacle avoidance techniques, such systems lack the ability to model a pilot's ability to intuitively adapt to various conditions and must be continually updated with new functionality.
Although continually updating autopilot systems to efficiently respond to new conditions is generally a desirable goal, such a process is inherently reactionary and labor intensive in nature. Moreover, such procedures are unable to replicate the effect of pilots' intuition or culmination of flying experience on choosing how to maneuver around or within proximity to an obstacle.